Greece

Greek draft law could break wind sector

GREECE: The Greek government is drafting a law to push back the determination of a feed-in tariff (FIT) to the moment when a project is connected to the grid.

The Hellenic wind energy association (HWEA) has said the law could be the death knell for Greece's already suffering wind energy sector if it is enacted

"It would be an unacceptable provision and no banks would finance projects under these conditions," says HWEA vice president Ioannis Tsipouridis. "We are waiting to be assured that the government has changed its mind."

The draft law comes on top of an already glum market backdrop. Greece now has total installed wind capacity of 1.79GW, with only 45MW in new projects this year so far.

Financing is extremely tight, and Tsipouridissaid the association forecasts that even less new capacity could be installed in 2013 than last year, when just 117MW was added.

Mainland Greek wind farms currently receive a FIT of EUR 89/MWh while those on the islands receive EUR 99/MWh, minus a 10% levy that was agreed as part of the country's austerity measures.

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